Friday, December 4, 2009

One More Time When I Didn't quit

[image: Granny Weatherwax, by Paul Kidby]
My mood is much improved - thank you again, acupuncture - and I find myself moving into new territory in my life. One thing it means is that I have a sense of being ready to leave behind this blog, its persona and its subjects. "Dalai Grandma" was, after all, not my secret name, but my daughter's nickname for me, a sort of joke to say "I don't take myself too seriously," and it feels outgrown. To me, it suggested a persona (a word we literary types use for a self fabricated by the author) that was, oh, a little bit of kind old granny. That I am not, or let me say, I think there's more to me. A model I might be ready to incorporate is Granny Weatherall in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels - a no-nonsense practical witch, a healer who knows herbs and human psychology, like most witches, and who tackles evil with the fierce determination real work sometimes calls for.

I don't know whether I'll start a new blog tomorrow, or five minutes from now, or never. I do intend to leave this blog up and open to moderated comments for now. That means a comment on a post from last year would end up posted underneath that post. I have so liked making the friends I made here, and intend to keep following you in your blogs.

p.s. 2013 Obviously, I came back. Maybe a little witchier and more like Granny W. I imagine the main reason this has had so many hits was that for a while there, anyone who landed on the blog landed on this.

4 comments:

Aww, I will miss you and your posts and your writing and news from you. Why not just change the url? That way, you get to keep your old posts in the same blog. The new persona that we create after all is just a continuation of the other one we leave behind. And why the need to create another persona? :D

But whatever you do, please keep us posted of your new blog. That means, another last post. Sigh.. I feel sad already.

I read this twice to make sure I understood. Even though I interpret this choice as a new beginning, selfishly I am mourning the loss of the lessons and insights I found daily in your posts. I now view this blog as a treasured book I will revisit whenever I want, especially when I need to awaken my heart, my own honesty and openness, and when I need ongoing support to grow my capacity to live full and present.

The Five Remembrances

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.[a Buddhist chant, tr. Thich Nhat Hanh]